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Colonial America : A History to 1763

Summary

The thirteen North American colonies established by Great Britain eventually formed the nucleus of the United States. This outstanding book describes the history of these colonies, both individually and collectively. Since its first publication in 1992 it has become the established textbook for students of this period in American history. The third edition, revised throughout and substantially expanded, now includes a chapter on the Spanish in Florida, New Mexico, and Texas, together with an account of the French settlements in Louisiana. Accompanied by maps, contemporary illustrations, chronologies, documents, and a fully updated and expanded bibliography, this comprehensive and readable history of the colonial period offers a fascinating analysis of the evolution of a new and distinctive society.

Author Biography

Richard Middleton is Reader in American History at The Queen's University, Belfast. He is the author of The Bells of Victory: The Pitt-Newcastle Ministry and the Conduct of the Seven Years' War: 1757–1762 (1985).

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

ix

List of Maps

xi

List of Documents

xii

Preface to the Third Edition

xiv

Acknowledgments

xv

PART I Europeans Encounter Another World

1

(44)

The Age of European Exploration

3

(12)

Chronology

3

(3)

Spain and Portugal

6

(2)

England: The Elizabethan Prelude

8

(7)

The Peoples of Eastern North America

15

(30)

Chronology

15

(3)

The Precontact Background

18

(7)

The Columbian Impact

25

(3)

Eastern North America, circa 1600

28

(17)

PART II The Seventeenth-century Settlements

45

(148)

The English Arrive: Virginia, 1607-60

47

(20)

Chronology

47

(1)

The Virginia Company: Early Settlement

48

(6)

The Charter of Liberties

54

(4)

The Massacre of 1622 and Fall of the Company

58

(3)

Growth and Consolidation, 1625-60

61

(6)

The Conquest Continues: New England, 1620-60

67

(27)

Chronology

67

(1)

The Pilgrim Fathers

68

(5)

Massachusetts: A City on the Hill

73

(5)

The Struggle for Orthodoxy

78

(9)

The Commonwealth Secured

87

(4)

Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire

91

(3)

Maryland and New York, 1624-60

94

(16)

Chronology

94

(1)

Maryland: A Catholic Proprietary

95

(8)

New York and Delaware: The Dutch and Swedish Beginnings

103

(7)

The Restoration Era

110

(19)

Chronology

110

(1)

The Return of Charles II

111

(3)

Mercantilism: The Navigation Laws

114

(1)

New York Becomes an English Colony

115

(7)

The Carolinas: Early Settlement

122

(7)

The Later Years of Charles II

129

(24)

Chronology

129

(1)

Virginia: Bacon's Rebellion and its Aftermath

130

(10)

Massachusetts: The Struggle to Remain Self-governing

140

(5)

New Jersey and Pennsylvania: The Beginnings

145

(8)

James II and the Glorious Revolution

153

(19)

Chronology

153

(1)

The Dominion of New England

154

(5)

Massachusetts Reclaims Control

159

(2)

New York: Leisler's Rebellion

161

(5)

Maryland

166

(3)

Aftermath

169

(3)

The Era of William and Anne

172

(21)

Chronology

172

(1)

William III's Colonial Policy

173

(1)

The Salem Witchcraft Trials

173

(8)

Proprietary Problems in Pennsylvania and New Jersey

181

(3)

The End of Proprietary Government in the Carolinas

184

(5)

War and the American Colonies, 1689-1713

189

(4)

PART III The Eighteenth-century Provinces

193

(244)

The Provincial Economy and Labor System

195

(29)

Chronology

195

(2)

The Southern Plantation System

197

(8)

Northern Farming and Commerce

205

(7)

The Mercantilist System

212

(4)

Money and Taxation

216

(4)

The Standard of Living: Poverty and Prosperity

220

(4)

European-American Family and Society

224

(15)

Chronology

224

(1)

The Family Structure

225

(6)

Children

231

(5)

Social Structure: Rank and Class

236

(3)

European-American Women

239

(19)

Chronology

239

(1)

Old World Legacies: New World Opportunities?

240

(2)

Life Cycles

242

(10)

Household Enterprises, Business, and the Professions

252

(6)

European-American Religion, Education, and Culture, 1689-1760

258

(27)

Chronology

258

(1)

Religion

259

(8)

Education

267

(6)

Libraries, Literature, and the Press

273

(2)

Science and the Arts

275

(3)

Popular Culture

278

(2)

Architecture: The Anglicization of Taste

280

(5)

African-American Society and Culture, 1689-1760

285

(28)

Chronology

285

(1)

Coming to America: The Middle Passage

286

(6)

The African-American Family

292

(2)

Work and Culture

294

(8)

White over Black: The Slave Codes

302

(8)

Free African-Americans

310

(3)

American Indian Society and Culture, 1689-1760

313

(29)

Chronology

313

(1)

The Coastal Reservations

314

(7)

The Nations of the Northern Frontier

321

(12)

The Nations of the Southern Frontier

333

(9)

The Institutions of Government

342

(24)

Chronology

342

(2)

The Royal Framework

344

(1)

Local Government: Town Meeting and County Court

345

(3)

The Provincial Assembly: Crown versus People

348

(11)

Parties and Factions in the Age of Walpole

359

(4)

Toward a Republican Ideology

363

(3)

Immigration and Expansion, 174-50

366

(20)

Chronology

366

(1)

The Germans and Scots-Irish

367

(9)

The Founding of Georgia

376

(4)

The Urban Frontier

380

(6)

Imperial Neighbors: Spain and France in Florida, New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana